DEREK PRINGLE

For many, the two-divisional County Championship introduced in 2000 has given first-class cricket in England and Wales context and kudos with promotion and relegation often remaining unsettled until the last match of the season. But such suspense has come at a price with a raft of counties now believing two divisions to be a toxic brand harming the long-term interests of England cricket.
Their reasoning is logical and it is strong. Faced with the carrot of promotion or the stick of relegation, most seek the short-term solutions posed by those challenges by signing Kolpak pl...